


Wingman

by renaissance



Series: Haikyuu!! Rarepair Week 2015 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, HQ Rarepair Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 13:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3612015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renaissance/pseuds/renaissance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it comes to his friendship with Oikawa, Hajime is always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Still, there's a first time for everything...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wingman

**Author's Note:**

> [Haikyuu!! Rarepair Week](http://hqrarepairweek.tumblr.com) Day 1: Beginnings / Celebration
> 
>  
> 
> Well... this is the first of seven fics from me this week. It's been a massive commitment but I've had an awful lot of fun (and still am—at time of publishing, not all my fics are complete!) Some quick acknowledgements: Viv, San, Marge, and everyone else who's given me advice and encouragement, I couldn't have made it through the writing process without you! These are all dedicated to you in spirit xx
> 
> Kicking off Day 1 with a bit of column A, bit of column B. A celebration, and a beginning. The idea for this comes from Oikawa's "current concern" in the manga extras. Also, some graduation-y themes, to make this week almost cyclic. Enjoy!

As far as Hajime is concerned, he didn’t ask to come to this party in the first place. He didn’t ask for Oikawa to show up on his doorstep at six with the sort of grin on his face that was just asking to be punched and brandishing a text from Sawamura saying “Sure, you can come if you want.” He didn’t ask for the half-hour drive in Oikawa’s mum’s car to Sawamura’s house, and he did _not_ ask to listen to nothing but pop the whole way.

So, reasonably, Hajime can conclude that he does _not_ deserve what is happening to him right now.

“ _Please_ , Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says, for the fiftieth time.

“The answer is still no,” Hajime says.

The problem with Oikawa is that he’s very persuasive. Or maybe it’s just that he never gives up. Either way, they’re going to different universities soon. Hajime has been trying to slowly wean himself off his weird loyalty to, well, his best friend, by saying “no” to all of Oikawa’s stupid schemes or just straight-up ignoring him.

“Come on,” Oikawa says, “have you even _looked_ at her? She’s perfect.”

Hajime has, unsurprisingly, not paid very much attention to Karasuno’s former manager. It’s not like they’ve spent much time around Karasuno before. Hajime isn’t even sure how Oikawa wrangled an invitation to Sawamura’s leaving party. He isn’t sure that he _wants_ to know.

Out of a lack of patience, more than anything else, he glances in the direction that Oikawa has been staring for the past hour.

“Yeah, whatever,” he says, “she’s pretty. Like, five times too pretty for you. Give up, already.”

“I’m offended,” Oikawa says lightly. He pauses for a second, and then sighs. “Iwa-chan, if you don’t come with me, you’ll have to talk to Shrimpy and Tobio-chan. Or the one who keeps taking his shirt off.”

“Still better than watching some girl fall over herself to get your number,” Hajime says.

Oikawa frowns. “Last time I tried, she wouldn’t even talk to me.”

“And you—”

“—I like a challenge.”

“Ugh,” Hajime says. “I’ll come, but only if I get to watch you being brutally rejected.”

Oikawa grins and clasps his hands together. “Iwa-chan! I knew I could count on you to be my wingman!”

“I’m not your wingman,” Hajime snaps, feeling his mouth turn down into a scowl without his permission. Oikawa has that effect on him. “I’m only coming with you to laugh at your inevitable downfall and then pick up the pieces when you start weeping like a baby.”

“I’m so lucky to have such a caring best friend,” Oikawa sings.

Hajime briefly considers feeling bad about it—he _is_ being kind of harsh—but he decides against it. Oikawa needs to have his head forcibly yanked out of the stratosphere sometimes, and he’s already got too many girls falling over themselves to bask in the aura of his narcissistic glow. A failure will do him a bit of good.

Karasuno’s former manager is sitting by herself on a couch at the edge of the crowd, and Hajime gets a tinge of regret as he and Oikawa approach her. She looks quiet and shy, and Hajime steels himself to step in before Oikawa inevitably takes things too far.

“Manager-chan!” Oikawa calls. “Isn’t it lonely all by yourself?”

She doesn’t respond. Instead, she pulls her phone out of her pocket and flicks her fingers across the screen. Hajime stifles a laugh.

Oikawa is not deterred, though. He plonks himself down next to her at a respectable distance, while Hajime stays standing with his hands on his hips.

“It’s so weird that we’ve never talked,” Oikawa continues, “since our teams have such a… history.”

Hajime makes a point of sighing loudly. Oikawa glares at him, but presses on.

“And you’re so—”

She looks up. “I’m _what_?”

Oikawa stalls. “You’re, uh—”

“She’s not interested,” Hajime says. He can’t watch this any longer. It’s like witnessing a train fly off the rails in slow motion. And since Hajime can sense Oikawa’s second-hand embarrassment vibes even when they’re nowhere near each other, this is tantamount to standing right in the train’s path.

Karasuno’s former manager glances briefly at Hajime and gives him a grateful smile, and—yeah, okay, she is _beautiful_. That’s Hajime’s good deed for the year.

“Wh— _Iwa-chan_!” Oikawa splutters. “What are you implying?”

“That you only came here to flirt,” Hajime says bluntly.

Oikawa gets to his feet and pokes a finger into Hajime’s chest, which means the provocation worked, and diffused the situation as quickly as possible. Hajime doesn’t even let the four-and-a-bit centimetres between them get to him.

And then, without missing a beat, Oikawa hums to himself. “Ahh, Iwa-chan is _jealous_!”

“ _What_ ,” Hajime says.

Oikawa turns back to look at Karasuno’s former manager. “Never fear, Manager-chan! I won’t give up!”

With that, he skips off, leaving Hajime standing there and gaping like an idiot. Stupidly, his first thought is that he’s embarrassing himself in front of probably the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, and that makes him want to scream in frustration.

Instead, he looks back at her. “Sorry about him.”

“It’s fine,” she says. “It… happens a lot.”

Against his better judgement, Hajime sits down next to her. “He means well,” he says.

“Still, thank you for that,” she says.

“Y–yeah,” Hajime says. “Uh, I’m Iwaizumi Hajime, by the way.”

“Shimizu Kiyoko,” she says. She’s even got a beautiful _name_. How is that possible?

Hajime clears his throat. “How’re you enjoying the party?”

Shimizu gives him an amused look, like she can sense that he’s making hollow small talk just to prolong the amount of time he spends in her presence. “It’s nice,” she says, “but I’m not much of a party person.”

“Me neither, really,” Hajime says. “I’m only here because Oikawa dragged me.”

“I’m only here because Sugawara said it wouldn’t feel right without me,” Shimizu says. Somehow, it feels like she’s sharing a secret. Hajime smiles.

“And I suppose,” she says cautiously, “I will miss everyone when we part ways next year. It’s good to make the most of it.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to justify it to yourself,” Hajime says, before he can stop himself.

He doesn’t normally speak out like this, but he tells himself that there’s something about Shimizu’s manner that makes him want to—actually, he’s not even going to bother telling himself anything. He’s always this mouthy. He just wishes he _wasn’t_ when it’s his entire reputation hanging on what he says. And just _when_ did he start thinking about his reputation?

“Maybe a little,” Shimizu says. “But I think… I think it’s important to sometimes put yourself out of your comfort zone for the sake of your friends.”

She smiles, and Hajime blinks.

“That’s how I convinced myself to join the volleyball club as their manager, after all,” she adds.

“That’s really admirable,” Hajime says, because he doesn’t know how else to tell her that he feels like his heart is about to leap out of his chest.

What is _wrong_ with him?

Shimizu pushes a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Ah, it’s—it’s not such a big deal.”

“Still, it’s what got you here,” Hajime says. It makes more sense in his mind: if she hadn’t joined the volleyball club, she mightn’t have met Sawamura, and she mightn’t have been at his leaving party, and Oikawa mightn’t have tried to flirt with her—although he’d probably have found someone else—and this conversation might never have happened.

“Ah, so, what are you doing this year?” Shimizu asks. Hajime entertains the idea that she might actually want to talk to him.

“I’m going to Tohoku,” he says, “with Sawamura, actually.”

“Oh!” Shimizu says. “So am I.”

Hajime cannot _believe_ his luck.

“That’s—that’s really great,” Hajime says, hoping he doesn’t sound as awkward as he feels. “What are you studying?”

“Business and management,” Shimizu says. “It’s becoming a bit of a theme.”

“From what I’ve heard, you’re already a great manager,” Hajime says.

Shimizu looks down at her hands, blushing a bit. “And what about you?”

“Sports science,” Hajime says. “I, uh, got scouted for their volleyball team, which helps, I guess.”

Actually, he’s been keeping pretty quiet about being scouted. He knows Sawamura was scouted too, and that they’re going to be competing wing spikers at Tohoku, so he was planning not to bring it up at this party.

“Oikawa too?” Shimizu asks.

“Uh, no,” Hajime says, “he was scouted by the University of Tokyo.”

“Ah, that’s…”

“… a relief?” Hajime finishes.

Shimizu looks half-aghast, half-amused. “I was going to say that it would be hard for you!”

“Oh,” Hajime says. He lets out a laugh. “That’s very generous of you.”

At that, Shimizu smiles so wide that Hajime can see her teeth. She’s got dimples and her nose turns up a bit, and Hajime is _so_ gone.

“Actually,” she says, “maybe you could help me with something.”

“Of course,” Hajime says, not even pausing to consider that maybe he should first ask what he’d be helping with.

“It’s been years since I’ve played any sport outside of gym class,” Shimizu says. “I tried a few different sports in junior high, but when I came to Karasuno—well, you know what happened.”

“Sports science doesn’t mean that I’m going to become a personal trainer,” Hajime jokes.

“I know,” Shimizu says. “Actually, I wondered… I thought I might try volleyball.”

Hajime’s mouth drops into an “o”-shape. “You think I could help with that?”

“Maybe,” Shimizu says, her tone more questioning than certain. “I was going to ask Sawamura, but—”

Hajime glances over to where Sawamura is standing, talking to a cute girl with short hair. “Oh,” he says.

“N-not like that!” Shimizu says. “I didn’t—I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t, uh, I don’t like him that way. I just meant that since I’m so familiar with how he plays—”

“Right,” Hajime. “Uh, that’s good.”

They’re both blushing bright red. Hajime looks at his feet and grips his knees.

“Good that I don’t like him that way?” Shimizu asks, so quietly that Hajime takes a moment to register what she actually said.

“No!” he says quickly. “I mean, yes, it’s good, but it’s not—that is, I’d be happy to help you, if you want to learn to play.”

Shimizu lets out a breath. Hajime wishes he was calm enough to do the same.

“I’m already familiar with the strategy,” Shimizu says. “I just… don’t know what position I’d play, or whether I’d be any good at receives…”

“Yeah,” Hajime says. “I’d be happy to help.”

 _More_ than happy, he thinks.

“Thank you,” Shimizu says. “I thought I might have to just join a club, but… it’s nicer to be taught by someone more…”

She trails off, but she doesn’t need to finish. Hajime feels like he’s got all the luck in the world. Somehow, he’s secured one-on-one volleyball lessons with the most beautiful girl in the Miyagi prefecture, and possibly the whole of Japan. He feels like a god. And to think she almost asked Sawamura… he’s _so_ going to rub that in his face, not that he’d care.

“We should swap numbers,” he says, “so we can start meeting up.”

“Yes!” Shimizu says. She looks glad to have something to do with her hands, and pulls her phone out, opening up her address book.

While they’re putting in their numbers, Hajime feels a sinking weight hit the couch between them. He doesn’t need to look up to know it’s Oikawa, and it barely surprises him when, a second later, he feels an arm around his shoulder.

“So _boring_ , Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says. “Playing with your phone at a party? Where are your manners?”

“Look harder, idiot,” Hajime says.

“What do you—” Oikawa starts. “Oh. That’s… that’s not your phone.” He retracts his arm from behind Hajime.

“No points for guessing,” Hajime says, reaching across Oikawa and handing Shimizu back her phone. In turn, he takes his phone from her, and pockets it with a smug glance at Oikawa.

Oikawa doesn’t even dignify Hajime with a response, getting to his feet and marching swiftly to the other side of the room. Hajime supresses a laugh as he watches Oikawa try to insinuate himself into a conversation between Azumane and Sugawara.

And then, he glances sideways at Shimizu. She’s clasping her phone between her fingers, smiling like she’s accomplished something, which is just how Hajime feels.

“We could start before we go to uni,” he suggests. “Uh, the lessons, that is. If you want to?”

“I’d like that,” Shimizu says.

Hajime takes a deep breath. “Would you consider going out with me sometime?”

He pauses to mentally insert his entire fist into his mouth.

“On a date?” Shimizu asks, taking cautious advantage of the pause before Hajime can continue.

“I was going to say, uh, just to hang out sometime, maybe?” Hajime says, and adds with more certainty in his voice than before, “I don’t want to come off too forward.”

“I understand,” Shimizu says. “But, I would like to be your friend, and I—I wouldn’t mind… if we went on a date…”

Hajime goes so tense that he can feel his fingers digging into his knees. He forces himself to look up. Shimizu is looking at him too, and the eye contact is almost too much for Hajime to handle.

He’s not so mad at Oikawa for dragging him to the party anymore.

“So, do you have any hobbies?” he asks, trying to drag the situation out of awkward territory and back into the realms of passable social interaction.

After that, it’s easier. They get on well, and even though Shimizu is shy, Hajime finds that she can be sharp and funny, and bold when she needs to be. In fact, he’s never had more fun at a party in his life. He’s got half a mind to ask if she wants to find somewhere more quiet to talk—there are a lot of people in Sawamura’s living room—but he knows exactly how that would be construed, so he doesn’t.

They get so involved in their conversation that Hajime stops paying attention to the passage of time, and is surprised to see his watch reading eleven when Oikawa next plonks himself between Hajime and Shimizu.

“Iwa-chan, we have to leave!”

“Uh, maybe _you_ do,” Hajime says.

“No, you don’t understand,” Oikawa says, “I maybe stepped on a few toes, and I think if Sawamura sees me again he’s going to—well, his exact words were ‘do so much worse than mess up your hair,’ but I don’t think he—”

“Slow down,” Hajime says. “What exactly happened?”

“Before you hear anything to the contrary, it was _not my fault_ ,” Oikawa says quickly.

Hajime sighs. As much as he wants to stay and keep talking to Shimizu, he also doesn’t want to have to be the one mopping teeth off the floor when Sawamura inevitably enacts whatever wrathful vengeance he’s promised Oikawa for his unspeakable crimes.

“ _Fine_ ,” he says. “I’ll walk you to the goddamn bus stop, and then—”

“I need to leave soon, anyway,” Shimizu interrupts, leaning forward slightly to talk across Oikawa. “But I’ll see you soon, Iwaizumi-san?”

“Yeah,” Hajime says, “absolutely.”

Oikawa gets up and hops towards the front door like a restless animal, but Hajime lingers.

“It’s been really nice meeting you,” he tells Shimizu.

“You too,” she says, and she gives Hajime a small smile that he _knows_ is something incredibly precious and private. He thinks about when he might see it again.

Leaving the party is like walking into an ocean swarming with stinging jellyfish, and Hajime finds himself dragging a bit as he catches up with Oikawa.

“What’s got you so moody, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asks.

“You know full well what,” Hajime snaps. “Shimizu-san and I really hit it off, okay?”

“Should I be jealous?”

Hajime laughs at that. “Try your best,” he says. “Actually, I suppose I should thank you.”

“For what?” Oikawa asks, tilting his head.

“You may be a shit friend,” Hajime says, “but you made a pretty good wingman.”

“Mean!” Oikawa shouts, punching Hajime in the arm.

Hajime jostles back until Oikawa gives up, and they fall back into a steady pace as they head towards the bus stop. In the silence of the night, with a clear head, he can look back on the evening without any embarrassment or any regrets. He’s lucky to have met someone like Shimizu, and he’s even luckier that she seems to be feeling the same way that he does.

And he can’t help but think—if this is just the beginning, then he can’t _wait_ for what comes next.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment and chat to me about... rarepairs........ !
> 
> (Also, in case you're wondering, yes, there will one day be a "Why Daichi Kicked Oikawa Out Of His House" side-story. I've thought this through.)


End file.
